Anyone fed up with the endless options and menus of Microsoft Word and Google Docs will welcome the no-frills, white-page-only approach of Calmly Writer, a free word processor for browsers and devices. — Photo: Franziska Gabbert/dpa
BERLIN: You're staring at white screen, nothing else. Only the cursor and the letters you type are visible.
Calmly Writer is a word processor like Microsoft Word, except that it presents itself in such an uncluttered and tidy manner that the design and setting options have been reduced to the bare essentials.
The goal is to strip out all the things that can distract you from getting your words down on the page. Nevertheless, nothing essential is missing, and the usual formatting options are all offered in the menu.
Images can be integrated into your text, and the word and character count can be permanently displayed in the lower right corner. You can also go full screen if you want to banish menu bars from view.
The program can be used free of charge in a browser or downloaded on to your computer. If you choose the browser option, don't forget to download your document to your computer after finishing work or before closing the browser. You can also use the built-in option to to save it to Google Drive.
If you’re working on longer texts or projects, it makes sense to download and install the program, which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Then everything you write is regularly saved locally on the computer.
Also, on the computer version you can edit multiple texts at the same time, with the documents organised as tabs at the top of the screen. There’s also a focus mode that lets you see only the paragraph you are currently writing.
As with the browser version, the computer version of the program can be used free of charge, but the developers occasionally ask you to buy it. That costs around €12/US$12 (about RM56).
For people who experience writer's block or suffer from procrastination, the developers have created an online app called Just Write where you can set a word count goal or a timer.
And those who work into the night to reach their writing goal may be pleased with the adjustable Dark Mode, which makes the background black and the letters white. Lastly, nostalgic writers can turn on a typewriter sound for an audio feedback of how much you are writing. – dpa
